I own this frame already for a long time, I bought it from a friend some time ago, but never found the time to properly build it up. Until this autumn I decided I had to finish (or start) this project and have a proper bike available for my regular trails here in the western part of Holland. Rocky Mountain is for me really a cult brand, with beautiful bikes and frames they made ever since I can remember. The Blizzard is one of my favourites, they built it for such a long time and still you don't seen them very often out and about.

The build took me some time, because I wanted to do it all myself and I do not have so much spare time. Nevertheless, it's great to take my time to research which components I should buy, where I can source them and finally assembling everything together. This is the result:

Really nice looking Blizzard you have there , except for the seatpost, bottle cage and saddle. But then those Raceface seatposts are a bit of a Marmite thing I suppose, and saddles - well they suit you or they don't.

The looks of the XY post are a matter of taste, but dynamically it surely can't be good. Troje's saddle is almost over the rear axle. How do you guys attack the trail from back there? Put a Syncros on it and immediately you're in a more dynamic position.

Saddle is one of those things where I prefer function over form, I really don't care about the looks as loong as it sits well... and this one does.

In the old days I was one of the few riding around with an ancient, gold plated Rolls! Sat perfect, but way too heavy, and everytime someone commenting on it. I really don't care, I was able to ride long days in a row while he had to suffer from his minimalist approach

Seatpost, good point. I'm looking for a Syncros but am not unhappy with the XY, I'll try which one suits best!

The looks of the XY post are a matter of taste, but dynamically it surely can't be good. Troje's saddle is almost over the rear axle. How do you guys attack the trail from back there? Put a Syncros on it and immediately you're in a more dynamic position.

Not sure regarding Troje's geometry, but mine is not set nearly as far back as that.

I haven't got a catalogue picture of the 2003 Blizzard (I think it was only sold as a frame, so no built-up bike in the catalogue), however this little shot of the 2002 from Bikepedia shows how much more planted the whole bike looks with the saddle in the intended position, over the chainstays not the rear axle.

Dynamically, this is even more important if you raise the front end with a longer fork, as Troje has done. If the front end is high, the whole frame is canted back and you're sitting over the axle, you need to be a really powerful rider to overcome all that and get some work into the forks. I know there is a bias against an upright position, but for most of us it's the only way to go - the more travel in the fork, the more upright you need to be to make best use of it.

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